Edge of Pathos (Book 4 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 10

The clashes between the Fractus and humans returned with a new ferocity. For weeks, Valerie's existence was consumed with fight after fight. As soon as her vivicus power had recharged after tapping it to save a life, she'd use it again. Valerie had lost count of the lives, but she never forgot the faces. She became increasingly forgetful, and headaches followed her even into her dreams.

More than once, Chisisi had already identified the next place she was needed by the time she'd returned from her last encounter with the Fractus.

Between keeping the Fractus at bay—barely—on Earth and doing the minimal chores she had to attend to personally to keep the Fist organized on the Globe, Valerie had almost no time to sleep and eat. Sometimes, Henry, Thai, or even Cyrus joined her when she fought the Fractus, but there wasn't time to talk to her friends about anything other than the war.

So it was a bit of a shock to check in with Chisisi and find that he didn't have an assignment for her that day.

"Nowhere you want me to check out?" she asked.

Sanguina and Chrome were both in attendance, and Sanguina spoke up.

"Even the leader of the Fist needs to take the occasional day of rest," Sanguina said.

Chrome flashed an image in her mind of himself, sleeping in the sun, and then rising up with his teeth bared. He'd had enough of wandering around out of the thick of the fighting. He wanted to be a part of the action.

Chrome had followed the magic trail the People of the Woods had found from Armenia all the way to the ocean, where even he couldn't continue to follow it.

"Chrome and I can take on any Fractus who attack humans today," Sanguina said.

"Your friends' offer is a good one, young miss. You would be wise to heed their advice," Chisisi added.

Valerie decided not to argue, for once. She gave them a grateful nod and returned to her home on the Globe.

Her first thought was to go straight to bed. Only pure adrenaline kept her moving most days, and without an immediate threat, her whole body seemed slow and clumsy.

Not the state that she needed to be in when a flickering movement in the trees set off her sixth sense for danger. She raced out of her garden and heard the sound of hooves stomping on the ground.

She passed into the woods and saw Summer up on her hind legs, batting at something in the air before her hooves pounded into the soft dirt. The ancient centaur's teeth were bared.

Valerie followed her gaze and saw Kellen zipping through the trees, his wings fluttering madly.

"Don't let his dust touch you!" Valerie said, which drew the fairy's attention away from Summer, as she'd hoped.

She registered a tiny movement in the bramble behind Summer. Clarabelle was hiding in there with Azra, Valerie knew. Did Kellen notice, too?

"You're here to fight me, so let's do this," Valerie said, hoping she could keep his attention so that Summer could sneak the unicorns away.

"You've grown self-important in addition to being generally useless," Kellen sneered. "I'm here for Clarabelle, not you. She has real power."

Kellen flew closer, black dust falling from his wings. Valerie ducked and rolled, and it didn't touch her. He scrabbled at her mind, trying to control her like he'd done many times before, but that tactic wasn't as effective for him as it had been in the past.

Valerie kept her locus firmly in her mind, her love for her friends, and swatting away Kellen's attempts to wriggle inside was nothing more than an annoyance.